You Are Loved

Life has its ups an downs that’s a guarantee. Well this particular season of my life has had lots of ups and downs. Days of feeling very unloved.

The true genuine smile my daughter gives is a reminder that I am loved. She loves me unconditionally. Even more so God loves me with with such a unique love. In this rocky season of change and ups and downs, he has used Promise to show and remind me that I am loved. Just as I let Promise know every minute of everyday that she is loved.

We are uniquely loved because we were uniquely created. Marvelously loved one , there is absolutely nothing accidental about you. Your eternal father is the only one who has the right to define you. What you have and what you do and who surrounds you can change, but it is vitally important that you never loose who you are and the creator to whom you belong. You are a unique expression of Gods love to others.

In these tougher seasons, when everything is coming at you and you are giving it all out, we need to remember to take that time to turn to God so that He can remind us that those are all lies. We are loved, we are enough. Our Heavenly Father loves us and thinks that we are more than enough. If we live by our feelings alone, they will lie to us and it will not be long before we are led astray. The truth is you are loved, no matter what the words are coming at you. On a daily bases I need to turn to him so that I can have my cup filled up, especially when I am feeling empty, even if its just listening to his Word or listening to worship. There is no greater way to bring out what is unique in you than to pursue God.

God is love, and I am Loved and I can Love
He is Life, and I am Alive
He is Able, so I am Capable

The bible doesn’t say we will never have ups and downs, but it matters what we do in those moments. Jesus says he will never leave us no forsake us. He is going to give us a sense of Joy.

That beautiful smile that she gives me first thing every morning is a gift from God. 

Strong Mama Strong Kids

Strong mama Strong kids

In my last post I wrote last week, I talked about the importance of speaking words of life over your children. Today I want to talk about being a strong mama.

When we take care of ourselves as moms, mentally, physically and spiritually we are able to be healthy strong moms for our kids. It’s important that we take care of our health in our diet, but it goes so much more beyond that. Just as we speak those words of life over our children we need to speak those same words over ourselves. Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, Your life will start to change.

 Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

When you take the time everyday to speak over yourself, your day, your children and your family, its amazing how those negative thoughts and attitudes can leave you. When you start believing the words God has said of you, you become more confident and stronger in all areas of your life. When you become strong in yourself it makes it possible to be able to help raise strong confident sons and daughters. It’s a daily decision that we need to make to renew our minds with our thoughts.

I want Promise (my 2 month old daughter) to grow up knowing what it looks like to be a strong confident woman. I want a daughter to grow up striving to accomplish all her dreams without looking back and wondering what if. I prayed daily and still do for my daughter since before she was born, she makes me strive to be a better person, so that I can be all that I can be. When she sees a mom that doesn’t give up on her dreams, I then pray she knows to never give up on the dreams God has placed inside of her.

My daughter is an answer to prayer that I will never take for granted. We should never take a day or moment of our kids lives for granted but also take that time for ourselves to be the one they can turn to for a strong healthy role model in this crazy life.

Always remember you are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. Smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you’d ever imagined.

Its a new Year, new Day, new Season, make it fresh and create new goals today to conquer this year.

Being a New Mom

Motherhood came earlier than planned for me. My water broke at 32 weeks, after two long weeks in the hospital. Promise Sarah Legacy was born at 34 weeks 1 day gestational; on June 21,2016 at 7:19pm.

Being a first time mom no one can really fully prepare you for that moment, especially when it turns into being a first time mom to a preemie. The days and moments leading up to it I was starting to feel scared knowing it wasn't happening as planned. We were starting our days together not in my arms but in the NICU. She is a miracle and an answer to prayer. From day one Promise has been a fighter. She has been our "Super Girl".

Being her mom is the greatest blessing God has ever given me. This is the greatest adventure I have ever taken on, the gift of motherhood.Children are a gift from God, not to be taken lightly (Psalm 127:3). As much as I get to teach and mold this little life that God has trusted me with, Promise teaches me so much everyday.

Promise teaches me what it means to be a fighter, she demonstrates this everyday, especially when her and I would spend our long days together in the NICU. Everyday I look into her eyes I see the love of God in them. Its amazing every time I look at my daughter, I see everything that I prayed for looking back at me. Every feature from her blue eyes, brown hair and clear skin complexion. She shows me to never give up. Promise may only be two months old, with a corrected age of two and half weeks, but in that time has taught me what it means to have strength for the everyday. She gives me so much Joy, even when she has me awake all night.God is the architect of her smile, she brings Joy already to everyone she meets. I have even learned that it't okay to cry. When I look at my daughter I can truly believe and know even more than I did before that God is truly a miracle making God and loves us so uniquely, and loves life and loves to give life. Parenting and being a mom couldn't be done each day without leaning on my prayers and worship music and going for walks and talking with Promise and God on a daily bases.

We are Purposefully made, we are to pour that into our children from the day they are gifted to us. As God rejoiced when we took our first breath, just as we rejoiced and were relieved when our babies took their first breath, how much more Joy does our creator have for that moment. There is nothing accidental about the treasure of the life you are raising.

As moms we need to always remember to not walk into the trap of comparison. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. We are uniquely loved. We are set apart. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. The joy of the Lord is our strength, which we need to pull on daily. I speak and declare these over my daughter Promise everyday. We are to raise up strong sons and daughters who know who they are and know their identity and that they were created as a masterpiece. Raising up the next generation is such a privilege we should never take lightly. Raising up a world changer.

 You are a blessing to your children.

He Chose You

Jesus the true vine. 

John 15

God chooses you. He is a friend that will always choose you. The King of the Universe, calls you his friend. He is a friend that you can always count on, greater than a best friend you have ever had. He loves you so much that he laid his life down for you. 

John 15:13

"There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for ones friends" 

How many of you can truly say you have a friend who will do that? 

God chose you as a your friend before you even chose to be his friend, love him or follow him. 

Our purpose in life and a commandment from God. 

Is to Love God and Love Others. 

John 15:17

This is my command: Love each other. 

Jesus chose and appointed us to bear fruit in our lives. Your calling and destiny is to be fruitful. Jesus chose us to come out of the world and to live for Him and be His light. God calls you, He's looking for a life time impact, a generational impact, and an eternal impact. Abundant, enduring fruitfulness is the mandate on your life. But abundant fruitfulness will only happen Jesus says, if you "remain in" Him. 

Jesus understands everything we feel and go through. You may have or currently feel that you have no friends or that the world hates you. The world hated Jesus and put Him on a cross. He is the ultimate one we can turn to. He wants us to flourish and be fruitful. 

There is a difference between how you were raised and why you were born.

David was raised a shepherd; but he was born to be a KING!

 

Miracle Working God

Your strength and victory comes from God alone. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

It has been a journey of believing for Gods promise to be fulfilled in our life and not relenting.

Evan and I talked about having a family before getting married. We both grew up around kids in our lives in our different ways. I have been working in children’s ministry with my parents for as long as I can remember, its such a passion that God has put into my heart. Evan grew up in a big family with lots of siblings. We had a strong desire about being parents and raising the next generation.

So about 4 years ago and only 3 or 4 months into our marriage, we were put into a position to practice our vows in the part of being there for each other in sickness and health. I happened to have gotten really sick, and was 8 or so weeks pregnant and I didn’t know. On February 1,2012 I woke up in a lot of pain and loosing lots of blood, after enduring lots of pain and later that day talking to my mom on the phone I decided to get checked out. I then went to the hospital with my sister and had Evan meet us there since he was at work in Stirling. When getting to the hospital and seeing the Dr. it was a shock for me to hear him ask me “how many times have you been pregnant?” When I didn’t know I was pregnant. At this point my sister left to go to youth, and Evan wasn’t there yet. And I was getting prepped for emergency surgery, I had what was called an ectopic pregnancy. While being prepped the nurse was informing that if I had waited any longer, I might not have woken up the next day. Me being scared and hearing all this, right away asked for a phone to call my mom and had her get a hold of Evan and they both came down to the hospital. After 5 days in the hospital in that time I have had 2 emergency surgeries and a blood transfusion.

Very early in our marriage we had a big learning curve where the devil tried to take us out literally. Later that year after healing up from this experience we talked and we decided to start trying for our family to begin. Well a year went buy and still nothing was happening I then went back to our family Dr. Being fertility wasn’t his specialty he was going to try and refer me to someone where that is there specialty. That was also an emotional time because not very many doctors in the area were willing to take on our case. I finally got a call from Dr. Kovacs, I was then told by a family friend that he was the best in fertility in the area. So another God ordained moment. Even Dr. Kovacas had a hard time even figuring out what was wrong and why my body wasn’t working. I even was asked if I have ever had sexual diseases because he couldn’t come up with an answer. I had been experiencing in this time some very bad abdomen pains that they were trying to find the answers for as well. Evan and I were both sent in for some tests. I was then booked for surgery in October 2014, where they discovered I had endometriosis. They cleaned me out in surgery of the endometriosis as much as they could without removing my uterus.

 At the end of that November I went back to the Dr. I was at this point still experiencing the pains. This Dr. appointment I happened to have gone alone, since Evan was working, and the news the Dr. had told me wasn’t easy, the next words that came out of his mouth were “he didn’t think I would ever conceive naturally”. He then started talking to me about my options with invitro. I was referred to a clinic in Kingston. In May 2015 Evan and I went to hear about our options. After the doctors in Kingston talked to us, and we saw the costs Evan and I talked and knew in our hearts to continue trusting God and not to go forward with the invitro process.

I had also gone into 2015 believing this was going to be our year for conception. We had many people praying and believing with us and speaking words over our family.

Looking back God has really worked some miracles in my life and ours through our marriage.

4 years ago I was on my death bed, with an ectopic pregnancy.

3 years ago our marriage was a little rocky

2 years ago a Doctor said we wouldn’t conceive.

1 year ago seen a fertility Doctor and knew it wasn’t the path for us.

Now this our miracle baby is due to arrive this summer, and God has worked wonders in our marriage.

And the bible says how God created my body and how its suppose to line up with his word. “I am Fruitful”, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” I had declared this over my life for over a year alongside the prayer warriors in mine and Evans’s life.

My life and this life I am carrying is proof that God answers prayers. Yes, its been a journey of believing and waiting.      

Don't loose faith and never stop standing to see Gods goodness. 

I will pray for you

I know it has been a couple months since the last blog post. I had an accident in the summer where I shattered my elbow.
Well now to my post of something that has been on my heart.

I have been thinking about this statement "I will pray for you". I have been thinking about how many people when they say these words actually take the minute to pray? Or is it just that it has become the right thing to say to people or situations. When someone is hurt, ill, wants to pass an exam....
Will you actually take that moment to pray for them.

How many of you have put those thoughts or negative comments in to your prayers. Let's turn our complaints into action packed prayers.

With all that is going on in Paris and around the world and the hashtag #Pray4Paris started trending. How many of us stopped to pray when we tweeted or retweeeted?

God called us to prayer, and called us to be people of our word.

Word Give, Word Kept.
Bring action to our faith.

We are to be the light of the world, not just say what's right or follow what's trending but doers of the word. Being light in the world is about showing people how to live with Jesus as King.

Matthew 18:20
For where two or more are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

If we were all to stop with God fearing pursuit, full faith no doubt pray for what's going on in the world, pray for our enemies and love our neighbours; just imagine what God can do.

Light outweighs the Darkness!

Let's be the radical prayer warriors we were called to be, the light of the world. Take that moment to mean the words we say or type and pray for those around us before it becomes empty words with no meaning.

Community

God created us to partner and live with him. He empowers us so much when we allow ourselves to be adopted into his kingdom. He created us to live in community. You are a Princess in Gods Kingdom.

A quote from Ps. Brian Houston:

" There is no "I" in Team - There's no "My" in partnership - There's no "me" in unity- There's no "mine" in ours. 

We need to be unified as the of body of christ in order to function properly. We were created to be in community with God and with others. He has reached out to us that we might know who were are and whose we are. 

You were bought at a price at the cross. You belong to the one who created you. He moved heaven and earth to make known to you this steadfast truth :

You Are Wanted

Community defined: is often people who have a common cultural and historical heritage. 

God is our heritage! Nothing has changed about God or his word. Jesus calls you friend and the he will be with you to the end of the earth. God blesses us with friends and family to walk life together. We were created from community. We thrive in community. We have to open our eyes to see it. God wants to spend time with you, just as you spend time on Facebook, or with friends and family. He wants to be your number 1 choice. God wants to spend time with you, he wants you to talk with him about your struggles. Choose God to vent to over social media. He wants to rejoice when you do; and rejoice with you! He wants all of you. God is crazy about you. He created you. 

John 15:15

I have called you friends - Jesus

We have this longing to feel wanted, that's why it hurts so much when someone rejects us. We seek to have the most Facebook friends (are they really all your friends), most Instagram and Twitter followers. When really all this time God has been seeking us, he wants to have a relationship with you. We were created to be in a dependent relationship with God and to rely on him for everything. 

We have been called  out of this world and its value system and invited to live in community in God's eternal kingdom. 

John 17:23

I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me! 

We were created to live unified in community of the body of christ in his Kingdom. We are wanted by God. Community is beautiful, and everyone needs it, without community we will sink. The only way to have true community is to be transparent, to encourage, listen, pray for and speak truth to. You aren't meant to do life alone; community is God's idea, and he wants that for you too. A place to be set apart for him yet belong to others. God is faithful if you pray and ask God he will bring the right people in your life. 

Empowered

We can't take what God has done in us and Empower the world until we start within. We must Empower "our" world and our sphere of influence, then take that from there with God we then can Empower the world.

The definition of Empower: 

* to give someone the authority or power to do something

* make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming rights 

- movements to Empower the poor

God has Empowered you with His Love, Mercy and Grace. 

His Love releases Power! 

Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed with strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future!

When He alone is our anchor, we are Empowered with His power and authority, 

Those who trust in the Lord will be joyful. 

If we allow God to come and Empower us with Love and Mercy, we will be able to see change in our circumstances, our marriage, our jobs, our homes, schools and the list could go on. There is so much power and strength we can draw from the cross. God wants to empower us with his Joy, Love and Strength. When we walk in our destiny with God in what He has empowered us with we can move mountains everywhere we Go! 

When we seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness, we can see marriages restored, generations restored, government restored, families restored. When we seek Him, He Empowers us with confidence and unexplainable heavenly JOY! 

Proverbs 21:21

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honour. 

When we pursue Him first above all else He will give us a the power to be have the confidence in ourselves, we will be empowered to have influence in "our" own worlds. 

Dream Big

Dream Big

Never give up on your dreams and goals. God put them in your heart for a reason. Never let anyone put down your dreams as well. Make some mini attainable goals to help reach your goals.

Goal: is a desired result a person, a system envisions, palms and commits to achieve a personal or organizational desired end point. Many people endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.

A goal can be long term or short term.

Dream: images, thoughts or emotions passing through the mind during sleep or an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
 
When I was younger focusing on my relationship with God and my dreams is what got me through. In grades 7 and 8 I was bullied a lot. I would pray every night that God would give me friends and also for a new school. I did get to go to a different high school than the kids I went to school with and I can honestly say God put some great role models in my life in those though years, and I now have some amazing friends I can count on.

Over the years I never gave up praying or gave up on my dreams! The devil will put obstacles in your way for you to give up. But whatever the dream it won't be denied. Don't stop till it comes to pass. In those tough years I discovered something that I enjoyed that was all my own. That was my love for horses. If I didn't go through that who knows what I would have discovered. God always has a plan. I've met some amazing people since entering the world of horses. With giving my dreams over to God and having the faith, I am now a horse owner at 25 years old. Don't get nervous about handing your dream over to God.
God really does care about the things that matter to us. Our dreams are important to him. Always pray and dream new big dreams. Something that will stretch your faith. Without a dream, you miss out on the adventure of trusting God and giving your faith a chance to work.

John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him.

The world is full of haters, disappointments and mistakes, but don't let these things keep us from going after our dreams or from reaching our potential. Sometimes people say or do mean things to us and sometimes circumstances just don't go our way, but we have to push those things aside and keep pushing forward.

I believe God made us to be creative and innovative. - Christine Caine

Proverbs 31:25
She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future.

You were born to stand out and be a leader and not a follower. We have Christ in us. We were not meant to be on the side lines just pleasing people. We were designed to please God our creator. God put our dreams in our hearts. He knows our every desire. When we please man we stretch ourselves thin. People pleasing robs us of our Joy and has us wanting what others want; and we then are blinded with what god has blessed us with.

Proverbs 29:5
To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet.

God has so much planned for us beyond our wildest dreams.

Never stop dreaming big. Our dreams is another way God communicates with us. You don't have a dream that is too small or too big for God. You are a daughter of king, who loves you very much. You are in the same blood line as the creator of the universe. He is the ultimate artist and the ultimate dreamer. So it's time to wake up from our slump, and start dreaming big again.
Let's go beyond the Facebook and Instagram goals and posts we see everyday, let's step out bold in faith.

Queen Esther in the bible saved her people and she was young when she became queen. David was just a young boy tending to his sheep when he stepped out in faith. Everyone doubted him, and he brought the war to and end and slayed the giant with three stones and a sling shot. Joseph in the bible had dreams from God all the time and his brothers doubted him and he didn't let that stop him.
You are never too young or to old, don't let the nah sayers bring doubt into your heart.

If we step out in faith, God will lead the way.

Why wish upon a star when you can pray to the one who created them. He created the heavens and the earth, he has so much more in store for you.

What are your hidden dreams?

Only real champions (win or loose) and people of character and strength keep going past the point of wanting to give up.
 

Royalty

When you are a little girl, at least I know for me you dream of the day you get to be that beautiful bride. To be that princess for the day. To be like the beautiful Disney princesses we grew up watching or even Barbie as we dressed her up. When you go to  a wedding everyone looks forward to seeing the bride for the first time.  I remember even planning my own wedding it was a western theme but I was the princess, it was my moment to feel and be dressed like a princess, I had a tiara and everything. 

What we need to know is that we are already royalty we are princes and princesses of an almighty King. We are children of God. You are a son/daughter of the King of Kings, the creator of the universe. You are highly thought of. You need to remember you may have herd the words from parents or someone that you aren't planned or were a mistake. Well guess what the creator of the universe He planned you. He made you with a purpose and a destiny, and he doesn't make mistakes. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 

We have all looked in the mirror at some point and not like what we see, or wish God did something different. Well you need to know when we think that we are insulting Gods work. We are made in the image of God, and God doesn't make junk. You are Gods original masterpiece. You have nothing to prove because you are already approved by God. It's not that you are no longer dirty as you stand before God.  What He did on our behalf does not make us spiritual neutral. Rather, He has made us righteous, and attractive. Those who cling to Jesus are beautiful to him. 

Isaiah 61:10

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with garnets of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bride groom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 

He makes us beautiful, even comparing us to a bride on her wedding day. Let this sink in: God uses that picture to describe how attractive we are to him. Even on that day you feel like there is nothing attractive about you, you have a Heavenly Father who still thinks highly of you and thinks your are attractive. He made us that beautiful. It's hard to imagine the creator of the universe looking at us with that kind of fondness. Some of us are over joyed just to know that he doesn't hate us! So it's a real struggle to believe that we are stunningly beautiful to Him. It's nothing we did, Jesus took away all of our ugliness at the cross. Once Jesus wiped away sin by dying on the cross for us then our "ugliness" went with it. When we believe and let it in our hearts all that God has called us and has for us, all that beauty and Joy shines right through us. Heavens beauty is a beauty like no other. When we have the Joy of the Lord, heavens Joy is an unexplainable Joy.  

It really opened my eyes when pastor Francis Chan, related sin to ugly.  In Song of Songs 4:7 is states that we are beautiful and that there is no flaw in you. Let that one sink in that the word of God sees you as beautiful and flawless and Jesus dying on the cross made sure of that. 

Your primary source of affection and attention should be God, and your sense of belonging should come from him. As we become familiar with the truth of God, we are able to identify the lies of the enemy. It is important that every believer be able to identify the real thing when it comes to the promises of God and what he says about his children. One of the highest priorities is to be led by what God says about me above everything else 

You are Beautiful, You are His Masterpiece, You are His Workmanship, You are Unique, You are Royalty, You are Worth more than Silver and Gold, You are More than the Clothes and Makeup you wear. Be nobody but YOU, the YOU God Created YOU to Be!

Value

It is important to know you have value. You are more precious than rubies, it even says so in the word of God. When you have thoughts like you aren't worth it or you don't like what you see in the mirror know that the creator of the universe is pleased and he doesn't make mistakes. You are made in his image. The value you have in knowing who you are in Christ and you were created to be is of utmost importance; it will help you navigate the course of your life. Jesus died for you because we cost something, you have value. We are of value to Him! If Jesus paid a price so we could be made whole, then it is important to remember that it was a price dying for on the cross because we have value.

How many people do you know would die for you, because they thought you were worth it?

You can not pay a price a for something that does not have value.  I am a horse girl and love them, it is where I can truly let loose and connect to God. Well this past December I bought my very first horse. I decided he had value and was worth the asking price of $600. I am agreeing that he has value and that I was willing to pay the price. Its the same when you are shopping and you are willing to pay the price for the clothes you are there to buy. In the same way Jesus was headed to the cross, he agreed that the price he was paying was equivalent to the value he was dying for.

You are Gods Masterpiece, You have Value, You are Loved, and You are Worthy, You were made with a Purpose and a Destiny!!

Genesis 1:31
The God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good.